Super Sunday at Morecambe FC

Morecambe FC play their first ever league fixture on a Sunday when they host Exeter City at the Globe Arena on 26 October with a 1pm kick-off and to mark the occasion the club are offering a variety of different offers to get people through the gate.

Adult season ticket holders can bring two friends to the game (in the Bay Radio terrace) for £5 each and get a free transfer to that part of the ground themselves.

All adult and concession tickets for other parts of the stadium, if purchased before the day of the game, have been discounted by up to £5 and the club's Kids Go Free offer is also in place which allows an adult to bring up to 3 under-14's to the match for free.

'Pay What You Want' Tomorrow at New Mills

Both New Mills AFC and Prescot Cables could do with a win from their meeting in their NPL Division One North on Saturday and the hosts will also be hoping for a decent crowd having designated the game as a 'Pay What You Want' fixture.

A minimum donation is £1 is asked for to cover matchday costs and hopefully some new faces will be attracted along to the Church Lane ground, situated in this attractive High Peak town and easily accessible from both Manchester and Sheffield by train.

Big Month in the Women's Game

It is a big month in the Women's game with the The FA WSL season reaching its climax and lots of big games at the top and bottom of Division One (where the season ends on Sunday 12) and in the race for promotion from Division 2 (Sunday 26 is the final day).

This coming weekend. Chelsea Ladies want a big crowd for their game against Everton at Staines Town FC as they battle for the WSL title and kids will go free (adults £5).

Sunderland can win WSL2 with a win against Doncaster Belles on Saturday night (7:30pm) at the Hetton Centre. Sunderland AFC season card holders can come in for just £2, entry otherwise is £4/£1 concessions.

Durham Ladies, meanwhile, are hosting their kids day before the match against Aston Villa on Sunday at 2pm with a host of fun activities and free entry for children.

On Sunday 11, Reading Ladies have their Family Fun Day before the match against Millwall Lionesses with kids going free and adults just £4.

Just below the WSL, the FA Premier League season is now in full swing. Regular fixture updates can be found at the excellent She Kicks website.

Arsenal and Manchester City battle it out in the Continental Cup Final, to be held at Wycombe Wanderers' Adams Park ground on 16 October at 7:45pm with tickets priced at £5 for adults and £2.50 for children and a £10 family ticket (2 adults and 2 children) on offer.

Liverpool Ladies are at home to Linkopings of Sweden in the Champions League on Wednesday 8 (kick-off at Widnes 6:30pm) with tickets priced at £5 adults and £2.50 for concessions.

On Wednesday 15, Glasgow City host KKPK Medyk Konin of Poland in the Champions League at Airdrie's Excelsior Stadium (7:30pm). Tickets £5/£2.

And Scotland will host the Netherlands in a World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final at Hearts' Tynecastle ground on Saturday 25 October.

Update

A quick update on a couple of recent posts...

With the FA WSL season reaching an exciting finish Chelsea Ladies remain in with a chance of winning the title and to encourage a big crowd against Everton Ladies on Sunday (2pm kick-off at Staines Town FC) it will be free entry for under-13's with adults priced at £5.

The Tynecastle home of Hearts has been chosen as the venue for Scotland Women's World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final against the Netherlands, ticket details to be announced shortly.

There's 'football for a fiver' at the Ricoh Arena next week when Coventry host Exeter City in the JPT but before that it's free entry to the Sky Blues Under-21 match against Crystal Palace at the same venue, this Wednesday 2pm.

Exeter City, meanwhile, reduced matchday prices recently in response to some poor crowds and an increase of around 300 home supporters from the two previous home games came through the gate against Bury on Saturday to watch a first victory of the season at St James' Park (although the Grecians had won their previous two games on the road which would have helped as well).

Family Ticket Offer as Crawley Aim to Boost Crowds

Starting with Saturday's home game against Yeovil a family ticket offer has been launched by Crawley Town FC that will allow 2 adults and 2 under-16's to attend for £44, saving £12 on normal match day prices.

It comes after a dip in crowds so far this season. Fewer than 2,000 came through the gate for the recent League One clash with Fleetwood leading to CEO Michael Dunford issuing a rallying cry to the people of the town to come out and support them.

Having come so far, so fast, Crawley's low levels of support have to be put into context.

Like Wigan Athletic they are trying to build from a low base and Dunford identified one of the key problems when he said: "Lots of families have historical links with other clubs,especially clubs in London."

But, like Wigan, who is to say that the other Red Devils cannot reach the Championship or even the top-flight?

Premiership cash may have created an 'us and them' scenario but there is space left by the casualties of the race to grab it for 'smaller' well-run clubs to move in. If that means marketing the club as a 'second team' almost for local supporters of Spurs, Arsenal, Brighton or whoever then so be it.

As Mr Dunford also said: "Maybe in another ten years’ time on a Saturday, we will have convinced them to come along and watch their local club, feel part of it, that’s our biggest challenge."

October’s Affordable Football

Some of the things that have caught our eye for the month ahead

It is a big month in the Women’s game with the The FA WSL season reaching its climax and lots of big games at the top and bottom of Division One (where the season ends on Sunday 12) and in the race for promotion from Division 2 (Sunday 26 is the final day). Prices rarely rise above £6 for some high quality football and a full fixture list with prices can be found at the official FA WSL website.

Arsenal and Manchester City battle it out in the Continental Cup Final, to be held at Wycombe Wanderers’ Adams Park ground on 16 October at 7:45pm with tickets priced at £5 for adults and £2.50 for children and a £10 family ticket (2 adults and 2 children) on offer.

Liverpool Ladies are at home to Linkopings of Sweden in the Champions League on Wednesday 8 (kick-off at Widnes 6:30pm) with tickets priced at £5 adults and £2.50 for concessions.

And Scotland will host the Netherlands in a World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final on either 25/26 of this month (details not yet confirmed at time of writing).

And elsewhere…

Monday 6: The Premier League Under-21 Cup offers fans a chance to watch a competitive game played (usually) at their club’s home ground for just a few pounds. For instance Leeds United host Doncaster Rovers on this night. Kick-off is at 7pm and tickets are £3/£1.

Tuesday 7: Coventry City repeat their ‘Football for a Fiver’ initiative for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy home game against Exeter City. Lots of other clubs have cut prices for their JPT fixtures including Scunthorpe United with standing tickets £8 (£4 for students, under-21's and seniors, £1 for under-16's) for the visit of Notts County.

Friday 10: England Under-21’s play their European Championship play-off against Croatia at Wolves’ Molineux home (kick off 5:45pm) with tickets £10 and £5 and group deals available.

Saturday 18: Sheffield Wednesday have a number of family tickets available for their home game against Watford at Hillsborough with two adults and two children under 17 able to save £28 on the usual prices.

Football for a Fiver at Coventry City

It was Coventry City's £5 ticket offer for their home games in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy two seasons ago that gave me the idea for this blog. The atmosphere that was created for each of the three matches, as crowds progressively increased to the point where 30,000 attended the area final against Crewe Alexandra, created a buzz around the city's football club that hadn't been seen for quite some time.

A lot has happened since then, of course, but the recent return to the Ricoh Arena created a similar feelgood occasion and the club have decided to offer £5 tickets to everyone for the JPT tie against Exeter City on Tuesday 7th October.

Chief executive Steve Waggott told the official club website: "We will look at anything we can do for supporters to make football more affordable and hopefully this will help that."

New Students, Potential New Supporters

The tell-tale signs of car boots being unloaded up and down the country mean that the university year is starting and over the next few weeks, amidst the late nights and new friendships, some life-long bonds of a different sort will be being formed as students get to know their new local football club.

Some of course will be already in the habit of watching matches but for others the move to a bigger town or city may offer the first opportunity to do so.

The majority of clubs include students amongst their concession prices but going a step further can reap some benefits. Lincoln City for instance are taking stands at the freshers' fayres of both Lincoln University and Bishop Grosseteste to raise awareness of the club and hand out some free tickets for the game against Gateshead on Tuesday 30 September.

And if you are off to Uni in the next few weeks, as well as buying through the club themselves check with your Student Union to see if they have any deals in place for discounted tickets.